Prospecting the Future of Learning Technologies and Communities

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Prospecting the Future of Learning Technologies
and Communities
Roy D. Pea
http//sri.com/policy/ctl
Global Learning Conference 20 October 1998
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Five Ecological Trends

• Ubiquity of computing and communications
• Visualizations of complexity
• Tools for building learning communities
• Pervasive project-based learning
• Insatiable appetites for high-performance
  computing and communications

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Ubiquity of Computing and Communications

• Digital convergence
• Communication infrastructures
• Component software revolution
• Miniaturization, portability and cost of
  computing and communications hardware

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ESCOT (Educational SoftwareComponents of
Tomorrow)
A distributed network of teachers, researchers
developers creating link-able representational
tools for real middle school math curricula.
A new NSF grant (Pea, Roschelle, Kaput and
DiGiano)
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Distributed Intelligence Role of components

• Graphs, tables, calculators, geometry,
  simulations, equations, notepads probably 100 or
  so core active representational objects that
  occupy parts of a screen
• Enable mix-and-match, plugplay
• Cognitive research rationale
• Dynamic, linked multiple representations key for
  deeper understanding
• Animated graphics for process history
• Collaboration support
• Assessment support

• Leading to
• Lower cost
• Better quality
• More flexibility

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ESCOT
Geometers Sketchpad

• Goals
• Collect broadly useful, powerful components
• Link to curriculum needs
• Combine in new activities
• ESCOT Teams Integrate Re-usable Components from a
  Shared, Web-Accessible Library into Lessons
• Teacher Pedagogical Design
• Developer Component Design
• Web facilitator Web Design (and teamwork)

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John DoerrVenture CapitalistKleiner-PerkinsMenl
o Park, CA
The Web is under-hyped

• We are co-conspirators in the largest legal
  creation of wealth in human history

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Visualizations of Complexity
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WorldWatcher (Edelson Pea)
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Scientists Visualization Tools
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Toward Learner-Centered Design

• Empirical studies of scientists tool practices
• Techniques From tacit knowledge to explicit
  representational properties
• Geographical context underlay
• Explicit semantic units for data
• Provision of semantically constrained
  mathematical operations on data
• General framework now encompasses over 30 public
  domain data sets (NASA, NOAA)

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WorldWatcher Jan, July Surface Temperature
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WorldWatcher

• It is important that learners create their own
  visualizations and models
• Expressive visualizations coloring worlds
• Localization activities
• Interpretive visualizations global data
• Project inquiries learner-centered explorations
  of patterns, driving questions

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O.L.I.V.E.

• On-Line Library of Information Visualization
  Environments
• HTTP//otal.umd.edu/Olive/
• Ben Shneidermans Human-Computer Interaction Lab,
  U. Maryland
• His categories temporal, 1-D, 2-D, 3-D, Multi-D,
  Tree, Network, Workspace

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Example 3-D Visualization

• viewing real-world objects such as the human
  body, buildings, or molecules for information
  extraction purposes
• Example The National Library of Medicines
  Visible Human Project

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Colon flythrough of the NLMs Visible Human
Project
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3-D World Visualizations

• Often for scientific visualization of volumes
  (rendered from real-world 3D objects)
• to test scientific hypotheses
• to simulate events or processes (weather)
• to practice procedures (surgery)
• Also virtual walkthroughs of architectural or
  interior designs
• Learning virtual museum visits, virtual travel
  to historic sites such as Egyptian Pyramids,
  solar system simulations

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Tools for Building Learning Communities

• Communities of learners, communities of practice
• The future of the Net is a social place
• Multi-user virtual environments
• Persistent virtual worlds, shared media spaces
• Social information filtering

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GeoCities Themed Neighborhoods
HTTP//www.geocities.com
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(No Transcript)
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SRIs TAPPED IN Project(http//tappedin.sri.com)

• SRI International -- Center for Technology in
  Learning (Mark Schlager, Patricia Schank, Judith
  Fusco, Richard Goddard)
• Partners are twelve K-12 teacher professional
  development organizations devoted to science
  educational reform
• Goal to develop, operate and study an
  easy-to-learn, multi-user virtual environment for
  ongoing teacher professional development
• In 18 months nearly 2000 registered users
  already
• 1996-2000 Funding

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Lawrence Hall of Science GEMS Room
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(No Transcript)
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Social Information Filtering

• Automated word-of-mouth
• 8-10 different companies including Firefly,
  NetPerceptions GroupLens, Alexa Internet,
  LikeMinds
• Used in systems such as amazon.com, CDnow, Sierra
  Online, Peapod
• Prospective uses in education SRIs ScienceForum

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Contributing Factors to Pervasive Project-Based
Learning

• New learning standards (e.g., NSES, NCTM)
• Findings in the cognitive and social sciences of
  learning
• Computer tools for guiding inquiry projects, for
  probeware data collection, and use of
  Internet-accessible data sets
• Paradigms such as student-scientist partnerships,
  tele-mentoring

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Insatiable appetites for media-rich learning
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A Final Thought

• New designs occasionally lead to "fingertip
  effects," a fit of tool to task so apt that it
  leads to precipitous social changes

• Examples World-Wide Web browsers for
  hyper-linked documents, electronic mail, fax
  saturation, Palm Pilot's design for pocket-size
  computing

• What will be the fingertip effects that will come
  to exist for K-12 and university-level net
  learning?

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Please Join Us!

• Center for Innovative Learning Technologies
• http//cilt.org